Drill failure, Gears

I’ve been using myMilwaukee 18 V Fuel drill on an 8 inch auger for the last two years and it was working well until the last outing where the low gear completely slipped and the higher gear would have work if you didn’t overload it or press at all. It has probably drilled less than 100 holes but it was an everyday work drill. I thought it would have lasted longer given the bare tool price of $250.
Thoughts?

Everyday work drill can encompass many things. Drilling soft wood not a big deal. 2 years of hammer drilling concrete for 1/4 inch tapcons is a different story. Does sound unusual though as they have a fairly stellar rep where ice is concerned.

I was using it in a body shop for two years and around home as well. Mostly wire wheeling drilling small holes. We did use it to rewire a house including spade bits for running wire but nothing crazy. Drilling ice holes was probably the heaviest load.

Only an opinion, but, I don't think battery powered drills were never intended or designed for use with ice augers. Sort of like using a brass tack hammer to drive 12 inch spikes, might work for a while and then it doesn't.

It’s just that I got sick of dragging along that much extension cord!?

The Tool Doctor in Port Perry is an authorized dealer for Dewalt and Milwaukee tools. A buddy had the same problem with his Milwaukee drill. They replaced the gear box and chuck . I think it was 130.00

Thanks.
I priced the gearbox at $104 and it’s not hard to swap out. Barely used drills on Marketplace are around 150 but I hate to throw the old one out. I will probably end up fixing.

It really irks me when repairs cost almost as much or more than replacement.

I switched from team Red to team Yellow a while back, for casual use they last as long or longer and cost significantly less up front.

I don’t blame you for switching but once you have a few larger batteries you are committed financially.

I had a Milwaukee Sawzall stop working and I took it to a approved repair place. They told me all Milwaukee products have a five year base warranty and they fixed it for free. Worth a try I guess

Anyone ever borrow your drill? I dunno seems like it shouldn’t have happened but everything breaks once in a while. I have all yellow stuff - always been great for me, no problems ever, 25 year old corded grinder and drill right up to brand new cordless ratchet etc. last year my fairly new 1/2” impact started cutting out intermittently and soon just stopped working. One email with pictures of the serial number and model number and a new one was in the mail to my house, no questions asked. Part to fix it would have been $175 on a $320 tool.

Anyway, worth fixing in your case I believe.

Milwaulkee warranty is awesome. I would give that route a go.

What model is the drill? If you over torque any drill it will fail corded or not. If the drill you have is one of the lower torque models you shouldn’t use it with an 8” auger. My first Milwaulkee was only 650 inch lbs of torque. Great on a 6” but would have destroyed itself on an 8”. My new one is 1200 inch lb of torque which cuts with zero effort on an 8”.
All that said any product can have a bad or weak part. Maybe you just got a bad one off drill.

It’s a 2804-20 model. Not sure on the torque rating but it always drilled fine.
It’s about a five year old tool so I will check it out and see if I can get warranty.

Definitely have a check on the warranty. If you have proof of purchase I have found tool companies to be really good at backing their products. They know the abuse the tools take and it is too subjective to question how hard you worked the tool.

MC